Statins in genetic myopathies: a retrospective analysis of safety and tolerability.
ObjectivesStatins are widely prescribed lipid-lowering agents, but their safety and tolerability in patients with underlying genetic myopathies remain uncertain. We aimed to study statin safety and tolerability in genetic myopathies using a large retrospective cohort.
Novel research led by Brazilian scientists describes the immune system’s reactions in detail in the first living patient to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant. This paves the way for the search for therapies that can prevent organ rejection.
The study demonstrates the feasibility of this type of graft but indicates that controlling initial rejection alone is insufficient. This is because even with immunosuppressants, continuous activation of innate immunity—the body’s first line of defense, especially macrophages, which react to any threat—can compromise long-term survival.
Through transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, and spatial analyses, the scientists have determined that new strategies are necessary to achieve long-term survival and favorable clinical outcomes. They recommend combining therapies that target innate immunity with advanced genetic engineering in donor pigs. They also suggest preventing early T lymphocyte-mediated rejection and implementing more sensitive monitoring approaches.
Precision and timing of gene expression is essential for normal biological functions and, when disrupted, can lead to many human diseases, including cancers. However, how molecular machines—protein complexes—that control gene expression locate to specific genes at specific times within the nuclei of our cells has remained a mystery.
Now, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered a new protein domain, SWIFT, found on a major chromatin remodeling complex family called mammalian SWI/SNF (mSWI/SNF or BAF) complexes, which helps these regulatory machines target particular genes to activate their expression.
The findings, published in Science, reveal how the SWIFT platform on mSWI/SNF complexes engage transcription factors (TF) to enable specialized cellular functions during both normal development and cancer. Particularly in human cancers, SWIFT-TF engagement sustains cancer-promoting gene expression and cell growth. Notably, breaking interactions with mutations halts cancer cell growth, flagging this new SWIFT-TF platform as a promising target for small molecule development.
Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have uncovered previously unobserved oscillation states—so-called Floquet states—in tiny magnetic vortices. Unlike earlier experiments, which required energy-intensive laser pulses to create such states, the team in Dresden discovered that a subtle excitation with magnetic waves is sufficient.
This finding not only raises fundamental questions in basic physics but could also eventually serve as a universal adapter bridging electronics, spintronics, and quantum devices. The team reports the results in the journal Science.
Magnetic vortices can form in ultrathin, micron-sized disks of magnetic materials such as nickel–iron. Within these vortices, the elementary magnetic moments—tiny compass needles—arrange themselves in circular patterns.
A quantum trick based on interferometric measurements allows a team of researchers at LMU to detect even the smallest movements of a laser beam with extreme sensitivity.
Precisely measuring minute shifts or slight tilts of a laser beam is crucial in many scientific and technological applications, such as atomic force microscopy. So-called weak value amplification (WVA), a method that grew out of thinking about the foundations of quantum mechanics, has already shown that under certain conditions the output signal of an interferometer changes markedly when the beams inside it are altered only minimally. An interferometer is a measuring device that can detect such tiny differences by comparing overlapping light waves.
LMU physicist Carlotta Versmold and her colleagues, all members of the MCQST Cluster of Excellence, working together with researchers at Tel Aviv University, have now extended this type of measurement. The team recently developed a trick that also amplifies changes in the incoming beam. This makes it possible to carry out far more precise measurements that were previously difficult to achieve. A laser beam reflected from a distant window, for example, could pick up vibrations in the glass caused by conversations inside the building, allowing those conversations to be overheard.
A recent study provides answers to three seemingly disparate yet pressing cosmic dawn puzzles. Specifically, the authors show how dark stars could help explain the unexpected discovery of “blue monster” galaxies, the numerous early overmassive black hole galaxies, and the “little red dots” in images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
The work is published in the journal Universe. It was led by Colgate Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Cosmin Ilie, in collaboration with Jillian Paulin at the University of Pennsylvania, Andreea Petric of the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Katherine Freese of the University of Texas at Austin.
The first stars in the universe form in dark matter-rich environments, at the centers of dark matter microhalos. Roughly a few hundred million light-years after the Big Bang, molecular clouds of hydrogen and helium cooled sufficiently well to begin a process of gravitational collapse, which eventually led to the formation of the first stars.
When a house catches on fire, we assume that a smoke alarm inside will serve one purpose and one purpose only: warn the occupants of danger. But imagine if the device could transform into something that could fight the fire as well.
In a new study in Science, a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine has shown in mice that the body’s “pain alarms”―sensory neurons—actually have such a dual function. In the event of a bone fracture, these nerves not only report the trauma, but they also morph into “reconstruction commanders” that actively direct the cellular workforce to rebuild the skeleton.
Due to our ever-increasing reliance on electronics, researchers are always on the lookout for battery materials with more desirable qualities. Common battery materials, like lithium, can be prone to disadvantages like overheating and material sourcing issues, leading to safety risks and higher costs.
Now, researchers from China have revealed a new battery design that may offer a better alternative to lithium. The new study, published in Nature, describes a sodium and sulfur-based, anode-free design offering a high voltage. The sodium–sulfur (Na–S) batteries are a promising alternative to lithium-based batteries due to sodium’s abundance and potential for high energy storage.
While the capabilities of robots have improved significantly over the past decades, they are not always able to reliably and safely move in unknown, dynamic and complex environments. To move in their surroundings, robots rely on algorithms that process data collected by sensors or cameras and plan future actions accordingly.
Researchers at Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) have developed SwarmDiffusion, a new lightweight Generative AI model that can predict where a robot should go and how it should move relying on a single image. SwarmDiffusion, introduced in a paper pre-published on the server arXiv, relies on a diffusion model, a technique that gradually adds noise to input data and then removes it to attain desired outputs.
“Navigation is more than ‘seeing,” a robot also needs to decide how to move, and this is where current systems still feel outdated,” Dzmitry Tsetserukou, senior author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.